Great Stirrup Cay, Oceania Cruises Private Island???

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Great Stirrup Cay, Oceania Cruises Private Island???

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The Pros and Cons of Sailing on Oceania’s Smallest R-Class Ships

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Introduction

I have to admit the title is a bit click-baity…but for a reason.  Oceania Cruises doesn’t have their own private islands.  Instead they share with much larger sibling Norwegian Cruise Line and much more luxurious sibling Regent Seven Seas.  But what they do provide isn’t really advertised.  They offer a sort of “island within an island” experience akin to the ship within a ship concepts including the Haven on NCL.  We have noticed this a bit on Harvest Caye in Belize when we’ve visited previously.  However, our first visit to Great Stirrup Cay it was much more distinct.  In this post we’ll explain where Oceania under-promises and over-delivers at Great Stirrup Cay.

Private Islands

The cruise industry loves private islands in the Caribbean.  This is for a lot of reasons including the most obvious – maintaining a captive audience where your only option is to spend on the island or back on the ship.  But there are other reasons as well including:

• Responding to the “over-tourism” of many ports that can easily become overwhelmed when a flotilla of mega ships comes to port during the peak season.  Private islands allow the major cruise-lines to spread out their ships a bit more while providing port days that would otherwise be sea days if docks are not available in the region.
• Providing a water-park and adventure experience that cannot be accommodated on even the largest mega-ships.
• Stimulating the local economy by providing a curated collection of stores and restaurants featuring local crafts and cuisine and staffed by locals.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings the parent company of three distinct lines has two private islands – Harvest Caye in Belize and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas.  Great Stirrup Cay has long been part a part of Norwegian Cruise Lines as they pioneered the private island in the cruise industry by opening the 250-acre island to cruisers in 1977.  They’ve been expanding ever since including a new pier set to open in 2025 allowing two ships to dock at the same time.

The Oceania Cruises Experience

As we approached Great Stirrup Cay we could see that a large NCL vessel had already arrived.  Upon closer inspection there were actually two NCL ships in port.  Our ship, Oceania Sirena, carried less than 20% of the passengers aboard her big cousin.  While the NCL ship docked at a pier on the island, this was a tender port for Oceania Cruises utilizing large catamarans from the island to ferry passengers back and forth.

Tender operations were quick and easy and before we new it we were approaching the catamaran docks on the island.  These were essentially on the opposite island from the NCL pier.  Upon arrival we were greeted at the private dock that was dedicated to Oceania Cruises passengers on this day.

Oceania Cruises personnel were directing passengers for excursions, to access the beach, and the Bacardi bar.  We had been told by our cruise director during the morning announcement that the Bacardi Bar would be dedicated to Oceania Cruises passengers and staffed by Oceania Cruises bartenders.  They even had a sign up for us!

Between the dock and the Bacardi bar was a beach with loads of lounge chairs, again dedicated to Oceania Cruises passengers for the day.  The trip back was also quick and easy with the dedicated catamaran.

Final Approach

We’ve had two amazing visits to Harvest Caye in the past, including one during the pandemic where the less than 300 passengers on our ship were the only guests on the island.  That was truly exclusive!  But this experience at Great Stirrup Cay was excellent and never felt crowded and had the same vibe as the cruise, which is to say a bit quiet and with no children.  Extending the Oceania Cruises experience on the island was much enjoyed!